Rossetti's Wombat tells the story of 'Top', a wombat who lived with the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti in Chelsea for a few months in 1869. The book also describes the strange history of the European fascination with the flora and fauna of Australia, from the late 18th century onwards.<BR>By 1860, most well-to-do people could buy a pet kangaroo from a London pet shop - and many of them did. Wombats were rarer and more expensive but the tradition of wombat owning was well established by the turn of the 19th century. Napoleon had a pet wombat, as did the Duke of Edinburgh, so Dante Gabriel Rossetti was in good company when he bought his.<BR>Rossetti's Wombat is a light-hearted account of an improbable side of Victorian England. It also examines the way a wombat participated in the delicate relationships between the men and women in the Pre-Raphaelite circle - particularly Rossetti's emotional affair with Jane Morris, wife of his friend and colleague William.<BR>Fully illustrated with drawings and etchings of the period, Rossetti's Wombat will appeal to those with an interest in Victorian England and the Pre-Raphaelites, and to wombat lovers everywhere.